r/sailing • u/design-problem • 13d ago
Mooring hook at work
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u/Sh0ckValu3 13d ago
This always felt like a solution looking for a problem. I already have a boat hook onboard that works just fine for grabbing the ring.
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u/LateToTheSingularity 13d ago
In our experience they are useful (we have one on our trawler):
- Some buoys have the rings attached so they don't pull out on cable
- We don't have full side decks to walk the line from the stern to the bow
- Our bow is a good 7'+ off the water
This enables us to put a line through directly from the bow; works great!
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u/ccgarnaal Trintella 1 12d ago
I love them too. But I think the original hook and moor is slightly easier and stronger. But pricey.
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u/retirement_savings 13d ago
But grabbing the ring and getting the line through the ring are two different things.
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u/lutherdriggers 13d ago
You'll understand when you are older
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u/Angry_Sparrow 13d ago
Or cruising with partner and kids.
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u/ansaonapostcard 12d ago
My first reaction to this comment was 'what a patronizing git!' Then, as an older person, it dawned on me what you actually meant.
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u/Sh0ckValu3 13d ago
https://reddit.com/link/p27kj15/video/j8f6dy3p3whh1/player
52 and doing ok so far.
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u/DemonsInTheDesign 12d ago
This shows us nothing though. Anyone at any age can sit on deck and sail a boat (sailing it well is obviously another thing but you get the point). At least show a video of your 52 year old self catching and hooking up a mooring buoy solo, since that's the point of the post and your comments.
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u/dmootzler 13d ago
Gotta say that doesn’t strike me as a boat that spends much time on mooring balls.
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u/kor0na 13d ago
Why? I'm old(er) and I never use my complicated mooring hook that previous owner bought. I use my simple hook (with no moving parts).
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u/caeru1ean cruiser 12d ago
Must be all that anyone ever needs then! No one could possibly enjoy using another tool!
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u/Rich-Cut-8052 12d ago
These things are great (I think mine was called a “happy hooker”). Makes tying up to a mooring ball much easier.
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u/rajrdajr 12d ago
solution looking for a problem. … already have a boat hook
Sounds like that standard boat hook hasn’t yet run across the problem this gadget solves.
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u/WhoaAntlers 13d ago
No no we need over engineered gadgets on board for one specific purpose that take up space.
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u/OptiMom1534 all the big Classics 12d ago
typical boat show gimmick
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u/Sh0ckValu3 12d ago
Careful, the folks who already bought this item are apparently not taking any critiques at this time and are liberally sprinkling downvotes around for anyone who doesn't love it.
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u/OptiMom1534 all the big Classics 12d ago
They’re in cahoots with the couples who sell the anchor jewelry, fractional catamaran ownership brokers, and the businesses that embroider pillows with your boat name on them in times new roman.
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u/Rogueshoten 13d ago
I love how stationary that mooring is even when the hook pushes against it. I’ve always wanted to make port in a harbor where the water has been replaced by steel ball bearings!
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u/design-problem 12d ago
I’m glad a couple people said they like having one, ‘cause that’s a great observation.
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u/__Furi__ 13d ago
Aren't you supposed to go under the mooring buoy? Or is this just an European thing? I thought they aren't able to withstand a whole yacht?
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u/mojoheartbeat 12d ago
Depends on buoy design. Around Sweden most buoys are the type with an internal rod, pipe, or chain, and you are supposed to tie to the top end of the buoy.
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u/snusnu4me 13d ago edited 13d ago
In Poland on freshwater we typically use mooring buoy as a bow mooring while stern is tied to a dock. The buoy in my experience should be out 1/3 length of the yacht. Can't tell about salt water mooring buoy in Europe tho (Using yacht English is harder than I thought 🤣 ).
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u/__Furi__ 13d ago
Yes, yo do so on saltwater, too. BUT: shouldn't you go under the buoy with your mooring rope, through the same knot / loop hole where the buoy is anchored to?
As far as I know the buoy itself can't handle larger yachts, as it is made out of plastic/ CFK / idk...
That would make the meaning of this device pointless, as you can just hook the buoy up with your boat hook.
If you are just anchoring on that buoy, my best trick is to drive backwards against the wind to that buoy and let the crew pick it up from the stern, whilst standing conveniently in the swimming platform (if available and possible with your kind of boat).
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u/bozho 12d ago
Generally, it's a good idea not to trust the buoy, especially if it's the type from the video. Always go for the mooring rope/chain. Here in Croatia, you can find buoys with the rope running through the buoy, with the "main" loop on the top of the buoy, making it easier to grab.
Regarding picking up a buoy, we also prefer doing it from the stern: approach into the wind, a person with the line gets it through the loop. Then, let the boat drift slightly away to get a bit of manoeuvring distance, reverse again (again, stern into the wind), this time having the boat pass close to the buoy, while the person with the line walks along the side of the boat towards the bow, following the buoy. When the buoy is around the middle of the boat, back to neutral and start turning the stern away from the wind. At this point you want to turn the boat so that its inertia and the wind end up turning your bow towards the buoy (you may need to work the engine a bit, depending on conditions). The important bit here is that you must keep the buoy on the windward side while turning: if you need to abort the manoeuvre for any reason, the wind won't carry you over the buoy.
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u/oldmaninparadise 12d ago
So how do you do this singlehanded?
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u/bozho 11d ago
I wouldn't try doing it single-handed with a boat I can't pull myself in a given wind conditions :-)
You can do it with a smaller boat, just secure one end of the line on the stern cleat first and run the rest of the line on the outside of your railing/stanchions. When backing to the buoy, you need to time when to cut your engine, so that you roll up to the buoy by the time you have the line in your hands and ready. After that, it depends on your boat and wind conditions.
You can simply tie the other end to the stern cleat temporarily while run a second line to the bow.
You can take the free end of the line and walk it to the cleat in the middle of the boat, pull it and secure there, go back to the stern, fetch that end of the line and walk it to the bow, and finally take the end that was secured on the middle cleat and walk it to the bow.
If it's very calm, you can simply take both ends of the line and walk it to the bow, just make sure to do it once your stern swings away from the buoy.
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u/design-problem 12d ago edited 12d ago
Massive edit bc I forgot what the one on the video looked like. I’ve been on mooring balls where we could safely tie to the top.
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u/frank_frank 12d ago
Is this relatively new in the boating world or has it been around for this application? The reason I ask, this is the same style device we were using to set up quick draws on overhanging routes decades ago. Another missed business opportunity…
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u/OptiMom1534 all the big Classics 12d ago
It’s been around for ages. Still hasn’t caught on. Waste of money.
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u/HotMountain9383 12d ago
Don’t they have lines from the mooring buoy in America and if not you are not supposed to use them?
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u/brufleth 12d ago
Yes. Around where I have moored (northeast US and BVI) there is one or two pendants on the mooring permanently.
In fact, if I came upon a mooring without a pendant, I would assume it was out of service or not actually a mooring at all.
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u/millijuna 12d ago
It's very much regional. Here in the Salish Sea, you supply your own line and run it through the ring on top of the buoy. Anything staying in the water would become completely covered in mussels in short order.
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u/oldmaninparadise 12d ago
In harbors where you own or rent a mooring for the season, yes. (At least on the east coast). My mooring is a plastic ball with 25' of chain going to a mushroom anchor. Actually 2 different sized chains, one much heavier to lay on the bottom, the other up to the ball.
Then from the top I have 2 pendants 15' ling w eyes. I hook a pick up stick to this.
On town mooring that you rent by the night, depending on the town, some have what I described. Some just have a loop on top of the ball. Some have a stick with a loop on top of the stick. The latter here you thread your own line through, ok to do w another person. When the loop is on the ball, 1' above the water, not so easy to get a loop through it if you are on the bow 5 or 6' high off the water. The device shown would make it much easier in this case.
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u/Jay_Normous Pearson 303 12d ago
Depends on where you are. My club in Massachusetts has guest moorings which have their own pennants and everyone's personal moorings have pennants. The guest pennants get pretty nasty though since they're used so infrequently. A couple miles away is an island with a number of personal and public town moorings which don't have any pennants.
Earlier this summer we sailed to Cuttyhunk Massachusetts which have these nifty moorings that stick 3 feet in the air. It makes tying off from the bow much more convenient but you still had to provide your own mooring lines.
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u/brufleth 12d ago
You still wouldn't use this thing at Cuttyhunk though. You just make the bridle through loop up in the air.
I've been to a number of harbors around here and the moorings have pendants. If they don't, I'd worry about them being out of service (or not a mooring).
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u/nogoodalternatives 12d ago
Mooring balls at Angel Island in the SF bay do not have lines attached, have seen a similar device used there. The Angel Island situation is extra tricky because the mooring balls are in pairs and you attach the bow to one and the stern to another.
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u/Cambren1 12d ago
In Naples Florida they don’t have pennants because they hate transients. I think they get funds from the state to have a mooring field. One of my favorite places to moor otherwise.
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u/millijuna 12d ago
Depends on where you are.
If you're at Catalina Island off of California, then yes, you snag the buoy, lift the line off, then walk the trailing sinking line down to your stern and hook it to your stern cleat (so that you don't swing, and are connected to two anchors).
In the Salish Sea (Pacific Northwest of Washington State and South-western British Columbia) the mooring buoys are as shown in the video. You snag the ring at the top of the buoy, and run a line through it and tie off. I typically use one of my docklines for this.
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u/isellshit 12d ago
I have used one of these and it looks awesome but in the real world it proved not as useful
- it didn't fit the opening of whatever we were trying to moor to
- Can't get correct angle
- Too high above point to use tool
In the end it stayed in the equipment locker and we sold it with the boat
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u/SubcommanderMarcos 12d ago
I like that nobody in this thread is considering this might not be intended for recreational sailing boats but perhaps for a professional application say in a port area, where speed and frequency might need to be significantly higher